Tag Archives: strawberry short cake

Strawberry Shortcake is a summer dessert staple here in the south. Even more so here in Florida where some of the best strawberries you could ever have are grown in state. Heck, we even have a festival for it. Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. However, all this strawberry pride has led to some overly processed sugar bombs that don’t even deserve the shortcake name. I wanted to do away with all that and bring the focus back where it needed to be – on the strawberries.

The base of my dish is a slightly sweet black pepper biscuit. It might seem a bit odd, but the tiny bit of heat you get from the freshly ground pepper goes wonderfully with the sweetness from the cream and the berries. Also, I do acknowledge that there is a bit of sugar in each component of this recipe, but I tried to use it in a way that enhances rather than overpowers. Don’t let the multiple components throw you – the biscuits are the only tricky bit to this recipe; everything else is super simple.

Biscuits (makes 9-12 depending on size)Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour

3 tsp organic sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 475 degrees F

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl and whisk together with a fork.

Pour cream into well in the center of the dry mixture and stir gently with the fork until the mixture begins to come together.

Turn contents of bowl out onto a floured surface and shape into a rough ball.

Fold the ball in half and press out with the heel of your hand. Turn 90 degrees and repeat eight more times.

Pat mixture into large disk approximately 1/2 inch thick

Use a glass with a greased rim to cut out biscuits (do not twist or the edges will seal and prevent biscuit from rising).

Once you’ve cut out all of the biscuits you can, place them on the baking sheet and combine remaining dough and make another round of biscuits. Repeat until dough is gone.

Bake biscuits for 13-15 minutes.

Place on rack to cool completely before using.

StrawberriesIngredients:

1lb ripe strawberries

1 heaping tbsp organic sugar

Directions:

Slice strawberries

In a mixing bowl, combine strawberries and sugar tossing to coat the berries.

Store mixture in refrigerator for 2 hours to allow juices to collect.

Whipped CreamIngredients:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tsps powdered sugar

Directions:

Chill mixing bowl in fridge for 1 hour prior to making the whipped cream.

In chilled bowl, combine sugar and cream and whip on high until soft peaks form.
*Do not over whip or mixture will begin to turn into butter.